SunTrust Banks Dismissed From Overdraft Fees Litigation

Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) -- SunTrust Banks Inc. was dismissed
from litigation over bank fees for overdrafts after a federal
appeals court ruled the bank’s case should be sent to
arbitration.

U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King in Miami dismissed
the case against SunTrust, ruling it couldn’t go forward because
the plaintiffs had said they “do not have the financial ability
to pursue this matter” and “would be forced to drop their
claims against SunTrust if they were required to individually
arbitrate.”

The judge previously rejected SunTrust’s request to compel
individual arbitration proceedings for each customer. The U.S.
Court of Appeals in Atlanta overturned his order, ruling that
the individual arbitration clause of SunTrust’s customer
agreement had to be enforced.

King has allowed plaintiffs to sue some of the 33 banks
involved in the litigation as a group. Some of those banks
already have settled with their customers, agreeing to pay a
total of almost $1 billion. Bank of America Corp. agreed to the
largest settlement last year, paying $410 million.